Don't Give Up
by Kate Bing
Summary: Years of rejection and he had never given up on her. Not once. Then she cracked and he was gone. Why did he give up? Why did she care? [O.C.] (I found it really hard to write a summary for this one shot. I wrote it a few years ago and rediscovered it the other day so decided to post it. Enjoy)


My eyes open once again as I lay in bed, unable to sleep from the images haunting my every living moment. Throwing the covers off I clamber out of bed and once again find myself facing the blood-shot eyes of my reflection. Every night is the same. I can't stop the tears I'm convinced aren't necessary. I can't convince my heart that I have no reason to cry. I can't do anything to ease this pain.  
"I don't need him. I don't need him."  
_Yes, I do.  
_"No. I don't. I don't want to. It hurts too much." The tears roll off my chin onto the bathroom sink, my knuckles turning white as I cling onto the edge.  
"I don't need him."

* * *

_"Hey Yukiko, will you go out with me?"  
"No."_

He'd asked me that during our first days at the Academy, and he continued to ask me, my answer never deterring him.

_"Do you ever give up?" I cried after he'd asked me yet again. He just smiled at me, his hand ruffling his blonde hair.  
"Nope. So will you?" He just didn't seem to feel the effects of rejection._

I didn't need him then. In fact, I came very close to hating him. How could one boy be so irritating?  
I laugh through the tears. There was no one else like him. I was so cruel to him yet he kept coming back for more.

_"Hey Yukiko!"  
I cringed. I thought he'd failed the graduation exam.  
"Mind if I sit next to you?"  
His cheerfulness irritated me. What was wrong with him? "As a matter of fact I do mind. I don't want you sitting next to me," I snapped. His smile faltered and he looked a little hurt but he was over it in a second._

_"Yukiko, wait up!"  
I turned to run but I was too late. He'd already caught up to me. "What do you want?" I demanded. "I've rejected you more times than I can count yet it doesn't seem to be enough for you. Why do you do it to yourself?" I just wanted to understand what went on in that brain of his.  
"Why? Because I like you … a lot. I'm not going to give up on you Yukiko."_

What he said to me that day touched my heart and I have never forgotten it. But that still wasn't enough to change how I felt about him, or how I treated him. In fact, I seemed to go out of my way to be crueller to him. He grew to annoy me more than usual and one day I just couldn't take anymore.

_"What is wrong with you?" I cried. "How many times do I have to say it to make you get it?"  
"I told you. I'm not going to-"  
"To give up on me. I know! But you just don't get it do you? You're too stupid to realise that! I'm never going to go out with you! Ever! I don't like you! Everything about you annoys me so just leave me alone! Go bother someone else! I'm sure Sakura won't mind. But you're wasting your time with me. I said no the first time and I'm saying it now! No!"_

He never said a word as I yelled in his face. I watched as his smile faded, as he lost that twinkle in his eyes. I'd humiliated him in front of everyone and I didn't care. I'd succeeded in my goal; he'd given up on me.

Two weeks passed and he hadn't spoken to me once. I would see him walking around when he wasn't out on missions with his squad. He never smiled or laughed anymore, and when we came face to face the pain in his eyes broke my heart.  
I'd done that to him. How could I have been so cruel?  
But just when I'd gathered up enough courage to go and apologise to him, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks.  
He was laughing and smiling again, but he had his arm around another girl. Sakura. The jealousy that raged inside confused me. I should have been happy that he had finally moved on from me, but knowing that he'd finally given up crushed me. I guess I never realised how I really felt until it was too late.

* * *

It's been three years since that day and not a moment goes by when I don't see them together. Their image haunts my dreams and every waking moment.  
I clutch at my matted, red hair as I slide to the floor, curling up into a ball on the cold tiles unable to hold onto myself any longer.  
"I'm sorry," I cry, my eyes closed, my body shaking as I try to control the sobbing.  
_I'm sorry for what I did.  
_"I didn't understand how I felt 'til it was too late."  
_I didn't realise.  
_"I need you. More than anything."  
_I love you.  
_"Why did you do it?"  
_You said…  
_"You said you wouldn't give up on me."  
_But you did.  
_"But you did. You did."

"I never gave up on you, Yukiko."  
I stop.  
That voice.  
I slowly open my eyes and look to the doorway. There's someone standing there. I move my eyes over their body until they come to rest on familiar blue eyes.  
Is this real? Do I dare believe?  
I unravel myself and rise to my feet before cautiously stepping in their direction until I'm just inches away. I raise my hand, hesitating before I finally feel his skin beneath my fingers.  
"Naruto?"  
"Hey Yukiko." He smiles but his eyes are filled with sadness.  
"Why?" I don't understand. Why is he here? He places his hand over mine, pressing it closer to his face.  
"What happened to you, Yukiko?" he asks, brushing my tears away with his free hand.  
"I needed you," I reply, my voice barely above a whisper. "But you weren't there. It's my own fault." He releases my hand and slips his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. "I'm here now."  
"What about Sakura?" I ask, my voice shaking.  
"Things didn't work out. I'm still too much in love with you." He laughs and I feel my heart beat for the first time in three years. "I took the advice of a friend and gave you some time in hope that maybe with a little space from me you'd change your mind about me," he explains before sighing. "I guess I left you alone too long. Can you forgive me?"  
I look up into his face, his mouth curved into a lopsided grin. I can't help but smile back. "Only if you can forgive me."  
His lips crash into mine and breathe life back into me. I run my hands through his hair as I deepen the kiss, feeling him smile. "I guess I'm forgiven then," he says when we break apart.  
"There was never anything to be forgiven."


End file.
